Betrayer
by Dream Kitten
Summary: The Turks found a mysterious girl who knows a lot more than she should, and she's not afraid to tell everything she knows. But what when she becomes too much for the Turks to handle? Cue the SOLIDER Trinity. Place your bets, this is gonna be rough. Kind-of-not-really Self-insert
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note (READ): **_After reading quite a few self-insert stories I wanted to try my hand at it, but I also wanted to do something different. Of course, my attempts at 'different' as usual ended up being something that looks like I wrote while I was drunk, so I didn't want to post it until Red Dog Krim convinced me. It's not finished yet, but I better finish it before my damn brain finds more ideas to cram into this story._

_Also, I'm not really 13, but as I said, I wanted to do something different, but that made it hard for me to write the story in 1st person POV, so I wrote it all in 3rd. This way it looks more like an OC story than a self-insert. _

_Okay, I'm done, enjoy!_

* * *

Tseng would be the last person to admit it, but the girl miffed him. Him, miffed by a little girl who looked barely fourteen lounging in the chair in the interrogation room as if she were on a vacation in Costa Del Sol and not about to be brutally interrogated by the second most dangerous people in the world. It was, to say the least, a little degrading.

Tseng could only sigh and take comfort in the fact that he wasn't the only one. When the girl just appeared in the SOLDIER building, asking questions (they were definitely questions) in a language no one could understand the Turks were immediately called in. At first, Tseng couldn't possibly fathom why in the world was he, the second in command of the Turks, called in to interrogate a little teenage girl who probably couldn't even understand him. But then, when he saw her, or rather she saw him she did something that shocked all of them. She recognized them.

"Tseng? Rude? Reno?! Oh God, it can't be…" Were the first words out of her mouth that they could understand. The fact that she knew their faces wasn't that much of a surprise, as the Turks often ventured into the slums. But that fact that she knew their names, and could connect them to their faces was… disturbing, to say the least and downright suspicious at best.

It was how she ended up in an interrogation room, locked and alone. Surprisingly, she seemed so shocked that she was willing to be cooperative. Aside from saying their names, she hadn't uttered another word to anyone, just sometimes casting the three Turks disbelieving glances that eventually turned inquisitive.

Another disturbing fact was that she was a nobody. Her face didn't match any in the database and she didn't have any belongings on her, wearing only an oversized shirt, cotton shorts and she was barefoot. Honestly, she looked like she just stepped out of bed and into the building. If she wasn't so young, Tseng would have passed her off as a whore a SOLDIER brought home for a good night, but that theory didn't hold water when no one recognized her. The security was too tight for her to sneak in, and there were no reported security breaches. It could mean she had help on the inside, but Tseng reckoned that if the terrorist group, AVALNCHE, really wanted to send someone in they wouldn't have blown their cover within two minutes.

All theories cast aside, who was she?

When they turned up empty handed, the Turks had no other choice but take her picture and go questioning around in the slums, where the only people without legal identification dwelled. No one recognized her, and no one saw her even in passing. The same process was repeated above the plate. They combed through every corner of Midgar, even going so far as to ask the Turks and SOLIDERS stationed in Junon and Costa Del Sol to do the same.

Nothing. She was a complete nobody. Tabula Rasa. And that was what made her so dangerous.

The entire search lasted several hours, during which she had been confined in the interrogation room. It was a standard Turk procedure. Lock a suspect in the interrogation room, set the setting to weak light and mildly cold temperature while they hunt for their background. By the time they got down to interrogation, the suspects usually broke and confessed everything. But in this case, their procedures seemed to be failing them.

The nameless girl seemed to snap out of her shock about two hours in. Her reaction was both amusing and worrying. She looked around, slumped in her chair and then began laughing hysterically. The Turk in charge, Elena, was seriously considering calling somebody in to sedate her when she stopped laughing and started cursing. She apparently switched back to her mother tongue, but they were without a doubt curses she was hissing and spitting around.

Elena crossed the language she was speaking with the ones in the database, but once again turned up empty handed. In her defense, maybe it would have been easier if the girl did anything other than curse. She didn't even bang the glass and demand answers or anything, and once she finally calmed down she took a deep breath and settled on the chair, feet propped up on the table.

She had been in that position for nearly an hour by now, and all she did was mutter something under her breath, switch her crossed legs and chew on her hair or twirl it between her fingers. It was Reno's shift to watch her when Tseng came in, and the redhead only reported that listening to Commander Rhapsodos sprout Loveless all day was more interesting than watching her. There were also come complains about her being jailbait, but Tseng chose to ignore it.

"Do you have anything else _worthwhile _to report?"

"Actually, yeah." Reno suddenly turned serious. "You see how relaxed she is? She's not shivering, she doesn't even have goose bumps and the temperature in that room is 14 degrees celsius. Wanna bet that she's from the mountain areas? Like Modeoheim or maybe Nibelheim? Even Kalm's not out of the question. Looks like we have been searching in the wrong place."

Tseng had to raise an eyebrow. Now that he thought about it, his subordinate had a point. She seemed perfectly comfortable in the cold temperature despite her thin and not really covering garments. She was just chewing on a stray lock of her hair and looking into a wall, obviously thinking something over. Tseng decided it was enough stalling. They would simply look into it later.

"We're going in." Tseng announced.

"How are we gonna interrogate somebody who doesn't even understand us?" Reno stood up from his chair and followed despite his complains. Tseng didn't answer, but he was counting on the fact that if she knew their names she probably understood their language. Rude was guarding the door, and he walked into the room with them, leaving Elena in the observation room, and Cissney guarding the door.

The girl looked mildly surprised to see them, but she recovered quickly and took the strand of hair out of her mouth. She didn't put her feet down though. Tseng and Reno sat in the chairs opposite of her while Rude chose to stand, watching her intently. She didn't seem to mind.

The silence stretched for a few minutes, during which she decided she was bored and started chewing her hair again. It wasn't a particularly good habit, but she looked like she could care less. Tseng had to give her points, she didn't look scared being in the room with three, well _two _intimidating figures. Reno wasn't even trying.

Eventually Tseng gave up. "Can you understand me?"

The girl looked at him funny. "Why wouldn't I?"

She was apparently fluent in Midgardian, with only slight traces of an accent Tseng couldn't place. It seemed Reno's theory was at least partially correct. But before Tseng could utter another word the aforementioned redhead piped in.

"Great! Now you can tell- umpf!" Tseng stopped him from saying anything more by jabbing him in the ribs. He could understand why Reno was eager to get some answers but that didn't excuse him from breaching the interrogation protocols! It didn't help that the girl snerked into her hand, trying to contain her laughter. Great, if they ever had any chance of intimidating the answers out of her it was gone now. None the less, Tseng continued.

"It seems you already know our names, care to share yours?" The girl looked contemplative for a moment.

"Nerina Blacker." She finally said. Tseng raised an eyebrow.

"Is that your real name or an alias?" The name sounded too Midgardian for a girl who spoke another language, especially one that wasn't in the database.

The girl, Nerina apparently, laughed. "It's my name, only… translated, you could say. You probably couldn't pronounce my real name if the entire ShinRa corporation depended on it."

It was an interesting choice or words, and not one Tseng liked in the least.

"And what would your real name be?" He asked instead.

She just smirked and said something in a clipped and hard as stone accent that had way too many consonants in a row in Tseng's opinion. And the way they were pronounced, he was pretty sure he would have broken his tongue before he learned how to say it properly. Even the pronunciation of vowels was short and clipped.

"So I couldn't." Tseng had to admit defeat. Nerina's smirk widened. Tseng had a mild urge to shoot Reno who was silently as possible snickering into his sleeve.

"Back to business. Do you really know who we are and how do you know?" She seemed cooperative enough that maybe they could get direct answers out of her, clear her innocence and send her on her way with proper papers. If she really was a terrorist she wouldn't have been this relaxed and willing to share, and she definitely wasn't a spy. Now he just needed to know how she ended up in the SOLIDER building and how she knew their names.

"Of course I know what you are! You're the Turks, officially known as the Investigation Sector of the General Affairs Department, or Administrative Research, whichever you prefer. To the public, you are in charge of scouting for SOLIDER candidates, but you are really the President's right hand men, and you do all his dirty work, like reconnaissance and espionage, including assassinations and kidnappings. As long as the mission objective is achieved, nothing else matters." She said it all with a smile on her face, like she was proud that she knew so much.

The three Turks on the other hand, couldn't have been more shocked. She knew?! It was one thing knowing their names and faces, someone could have slipped that up, but this… Tseng wasn't sure whether to recruit her or shoot her. How in the world had she gotten that information? Half of what she said was considered sensitive and secret data. And if she knew that, how much and what else did she know?

"How the fuck do you know that!?" Reno was the first to recover and blurt out the question they were dying to ask. But instead of answering straight away like they expected her to, she bit her lip and looked away.

"Yeah, I'm… not sure if I should tell you." She took her feet off the table and replaced them with her hands. She was biting her lip and wringing her fingers, like she was thinking what to tell them.

"And why not?" Tseng forced himself to keep his cool exterior, though his eyes now had a hostile glint. This one was no innocent girl she pretended to be. All his previous suspicions were back, and now that he knew she was such a good actor she could be either one of them. And she almost got away with it too.

She held up one finger. "A- Because there's no way you would believe me." She raised another finger. "B- You'd think I'm crazy." Third finger. "C- You'd either shoot me or dump me in Hojo's lab to become an experiment." She dropped the fingers and leaned her elbows on the table.

"You do realize that the C option is likely to occur anyway if you don't tell us how you got this information, right lassie?" Reno raised an eyebrow. While he had to admit the girl had guts to talk about the possibility of her death in the near future like that, he was leaning more towards stupidity being the cause. Then again, if she was stupid she wouldn't have gotten her hands on that information.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Yes I'm well aware of it, Reno."

"Then you should give us answers, Miss Blacker." Surprisingly, it was Rude who spoke.

Nerina's glaring eyes turned to the black Turk and then suddenly the smirk was back on her face. She intertwined her hands and leaned her chin on them, giving the impression that she was now the one doing the interrogating.

"Ah, you want answers Rude? Tell me, you have a girlfriend, right? Chelsea if I remember correctly. Met in the Slums, right?" The way Rude stiffened gave them all the answers they needed.

"Is that where you've been sneaking off to lately?!" Reno asked incredulously. He had been wondering for a while where would the dark Turk disappear every once in a while, but he hadn't been able to figure anything out. He was planning to trail him the next time to see where he always went, but now a little girl just gave him the answer.

It stung his pride a little.

"How do you know about her?" Even with the glasses on, they could tell Rude was glaring. Nerina on the other hand apparently dropped the façade of a good little girl and was glaring back.

"Hate to be the one to break your love bubble, but she's an AVALANCHE spy. You have an awful taste in girls." She didn't seem to hate breaking the news in the least. But the other tidbit made them pause.

"You're with AVALANCHE?" Tseng asked sharply. He should have known. But she just rolled her eyes.

"Weren't you listening? I said Chelsea was the one working for AVALNACHE. Man, can't you listen? Anyway, Rude, on your date when you go to the bathroom she will fiddle with your phone and try to plant a bug on it. Don't believe me? Assign Reno to follow you, he will confirm what I'm saying is true." Gone was the little smirk she wore, now she was dead serious.

"And how do you know all that?" Tseng repeated his question. While he was still glaring at her, he was just dying to find out how the Hell she knew all that. On one hand, she knew way too much to walk away alive. On the other hand, they could use that sort of knowledge to their advantage. It wouldn't matter how she knew so much if that knowledge was in the direct possession of the Turks.

Too bad she was a bit too young to recruit.

"That's for me to know, and for you to find out. You're a Turk, you'll figure it out." Then she frowned. "This interrogation is over. Either get someone competent to do it, or let me go. Or put a bullet between my eyes, it all boils down to the same conclusion." She propped her feet up onto the table again and took a lock of hair to chew on. She was completely ignoring them.

Rude was in a mild state of shock so he turned on his heel and walked briskly out of the room. Reno glared at her one more time before following his partner, leaving Tseng alone with the girl. Who was still ignoring him. That made Tseng think. The minimum recruitment age for the Turks was fifteen, just like for SOLIDER. Looking at her propped legs, they seemed long enough that standing she would be around 5 ft 6, giving the impression that she was already at least fourteen. But judging her age by her height was directly contradicted by her face. Just looking at her face with soft cheeks she seemed like a twelve year old. In the end Tseng gave up.

"If I may ask, how old are you?" She quirked an eyebrow at him, looked him over and then glared at him.

"I know you Turks don't give a rat's ass for legal shit, but yes, I _am_ jailbait, and totally not your type." Had she been in possession of any fire materia, Tseng was pretty sure he would have burned on the spot. Instead he chuckled.

"That is not the reason I was asking your age Miss Blacker, so rest assured there will be no advances on you from my part, or from any of my Turks." He assured her with a smile. He didn't know why, but her hostility amused him.

She still glared at him. It stretched on for a few minutes before she snorted. "Turned thirteen a couple of months ago."

Tseng nodded, inwardly a little disappointed. He had been hoping to recruit her, but there was no way they could do that if she was so young, and even _looked_ too young. Tseng stood up from his chair still not entirely decided if he should just put a bullet between her eyes like she said or get Veld to interrogate her. Except he couldn't, because Veld was currently on a forced 'vacation' and there was no way Heidegger would be able to interrogate a dog, much less somebody like her. As he reached the door he heard her call him.

"Tseng! Wait!" He turned around to see her fiddling with her hair not looking at him. "Tell Rude that his girlfriend never _will_ plant that bug on his phone. She will try, but she likes him too much. And when she rejects him it would be because she doesn't believe enemies could be lovers, not because she doesn't want to."

Tseng raised an eyebrow. That sounded like she already knew it would happen for sure. But this time she wasn't talking about top secret material or plans, she was talking about the feelings of those she didn't even know. It was like she knew their exact moves, even though they didn't even do it yet. Like she knew…

_Colud she be like her?_

He wondered, but out loud he said, "I will tell him. But I have one last question."

"Shoot."

"Are you with AVALNACHE?" He wasn't sure if she would lie, but it would be easier to gauge her reaction if she actually answered. Instead she snorted again.

"Those idiots playing terrorists? They are nothing, the real AVALANCHE will form only until this one has disbanded. _Then_ they will pose a real threat." She still didn't look at him. Tseng took it as his answer, but only when the doors already closed and locked did he realize his error.

She never said yes or no.

"Someone more competent, huh?" He smiled slightly, remembering her words. Well, with Veld on leave, there was only one other person 'more competent' that he could think of. He whipped out his PHS and dialed a number he knew by heart.

"Hello, General? Yes, I have a favor I'd like to ask of you…"

* * *

Nerina sighed as she was left alone again. She cursed her soft heart that made her tell Tseng about Rude's girlfriend. She was never fond of the Turks, even after watching them in Advent Children. All through Crisis Core and even in Before Crisis they were pretty bastardly in her eyes. Especially for hunting Zack and Cloud down before the real game even started. Not to mention dropping the sector 7 plate.

Yes, as you have probably already figured out, 'Nerina' was from Earth.

She didn't know how in the world she managed to land herself in this situation, but she wasn't too scared. Things like that just didn't happen, so she came to a logical conclusion any psychiatrist would have recommended: she was dreaming. And you know what they say about dreams; the fastest way to wake up was to die. Or in this case, get killed.

She kept twirling her hair between her fingers and even started humming a little tune. Last thing she remembered before she fell asleep was that she stayed awake way past midnight replaying Final Fantasy 7 for God only know what time. She vaguely remembered putting on her pajamas and climbing on a stool to reach her rubber bands for her hair she kept in a little basket on top of her closet, so her little sister couldn't reach them. Then what? The stool tumbled and she fell forward into her open closet. When she opened her eyes again, she was hanging out of a supply closet into a hallway.

Confused out of her mind she quickly shoved everything back into the closet and closed it behind her. There were no secret passages into some unknown buildings in her closet last time she checked, so she started walking in a random direction, hoping to find somebody and explain why she suddenly ended up in Narnia. She found somebody who looked like a secretary carrying papers somewhere. She ran up to her and asked her where she was. But the woman looked at her strangely and maybe even a bit fearfully before pulling out her phone and walking away, just a bit faster than before.

Nerina huffed and went in search of somebody nicer to extract answers from. Her plans were foiled when two men in a strangely familiar uniform began yelling at her in English. She furrowed her brows and asked them what the fuck was their problem. Only, she realized she forgot to switch to English a little too late as she was already being manhandled into submission and having cuffs placed on her wrists.

She was about to give them a piece of her mind in _both_ languages when she noticed a very familiar trio. A trio that should by all rights be only fictional characters in the game she was playing not an hour ago. The very same characters that were now standing before her.

"Tseng? Rude? Reno?! Oh God, it can't be…" She said, barely above a whisper. The very same Turks she was trying not to stare at escorted her to a dark room with a table built into the floor and three chairs around it. Somewhere in the back of her mind she recognized the room's purpose as that for interrogating suspects, but she just slumped into the chair the furthest from the doors. She took a few calming breaths and began thinking.

What the fuck was there to think about?! She was in the game! She somehow turned her closet into a portal like those kids from Narnia! But instead of coming to Narnia she came to Midgar! What the fuck was she supposed to do?!

She had never felt so helpless and so terrified in her life. She guessed it was around that time that she started her hysterical laughter. But her usual way of dealing with fear quickly took place and gave way to anger. She stood up and walked around the room, spewing the worst curses she could think of left and right, even punching a wall at some point. It took some time, but when she was finally completely vented she took a deep breath to calm down and forced herself to sit on the damn chair. Only then could she start to think rationally.

And by rationally, she meant denial. Some thinking later she came to the two only logical conclusions. She was either A) lying in a hospital somewhere doped on happy drugs and hallucinating after she broke her head when she fell from the stool or B) dreaming. She _was _pretty tired when she was climbing to get her hair band, she probably fell asleep still standing on the stool, fell into her closet and curled into her blanket that had taken a permanent residence on the bottom.

Thinking of her failed mission of tying her hair, she twirled one lock around her finger before slipping it into her mouth. She always tied her hair into a ponytail and basically only untied it when she was washing said hair. She hated her long brown locks but she never found the time to cut them, and even when she did have the time she usually forgot, and as a result the tips of her hairs were turning a shiny shade of golden. Not to mention her sister threatened to burn all her homework if she ever cut her hair. She never managed to explain to her that she was not a living dress up doll. Her sister was just so stubborn.

Speaking of stubbornness, those Turks were the epitome of it. From the moment they walked into the room, she knew they wouldn't let her leave unless they got some answers. But all they did was stare at her in silence. And then Tseng popped the million dollar question.

"Can you understand me?" Luckily for him, it only occurred to her later that she could have pulled his tail and pretended not to know English- err, Midgardian. Still, this was her dream, she figured she might as well play along.

They seemed nice enough at the beginning, but then they revealed a bit of their true nature and the entire thing had turned sour. Judging from the redheaded female Turk she saw outside she figured this was sometime during Before Crisis. And when Rude piped in, she remembered just the event to push his buttons.

The thought that it actually worked made her do a happy jig in her head. Watching all those CSI series finally paid off! Man, she wished this was real so she could brag to her friends that she outsmarted the Turks. Maybe she could tell them anyway? The looks on their faces would be priceless.

She was snapped out of her thoughts from the sound of the door unlocking. Thinking Tseng had finally returned to finally wake her up with a bullet she crossed her legs and twirled a strand between her fingers again, not looking at the door. Only when she heard the sound of somebody coughing to catch her attention did she look up. And had to stop herself from gaping.

_'Oh shit, they're upping the level.'_

* * *

Sephiroth honestly didn't know what to think when Tseng asked him to interrogate one of his detainees. And when he was told that the said detainee was a teenage girl, he was left thinking if he should find Tseng's replacement if he couldn't handle a child. But after some consideration he reasoned that Tseng wasn't Veld's second in command for nothing and the problem was apparently the girl herself. Tseng informed him that she knew a lot of sensitive information and he had to find out how she knew all of it. Angeal had also heard of it and was instantly worried. Of course, he quickly got Genesis riled up and that was how all three of them ended up in front of the interrogation room, wanting to know what all the hype was about.

So when they saw a girl in what looked to be her sleepwear, her bare legs on the table and twirling a strand of hair, they were befuddled.

_This _was the girl Tseng couldn't handle? She looked barely fourteen! Sephiroth was already composing Tseng's resignation letter in his head.

Still, they might as well do what they came here for. Sephiroth coughed lightly to get her attention and sure enough her head snapped up. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped a little, though she closed it again quickly for which Sephiroth was thankful. And then she spoke.

"When I told Tseng to send in somebody more competent I didn't think he'd aim that high." Then she giggled slightly. "Guess he figured you three were the only ones with enough spine to face a little girl. I don't think you need me to tell you this, but ShinRa's gonna get crushed one day because only pussies are sitting in the executives' offices." She told them, a lopsided smile on her face.

Still, she sounded entirely too serious. Even if she was right, she would be considered a threat just for saying that sentence. Also shocking was the fact that she didn't seem in the least bit intimidated by them. Even grown up men who had seen their fair share of war, death and cruelty were nervous in the presence of the three most powerful men on the face of the planet. And yet this little girl was speaking to them like they were common folk, or somebody she met in a bar. It shed some light on why Tseng was so reluctant to continue the interrogation himself.

Genesis recovered first.

"_There are no dreams, no honor remains, the arrow has left the bow of the goddess_. Your confidence that the company will fall is rather suspicious. Are you planning to partake in the plan that will bring it down?" Genesis narrowed his eyes, in an obvious gesture that he wanted this to end already. The girl glared back at him with all her might. Angeal was watching the entire scenario with amusement in his eyes and Sephiroth indifferently.

Then, in a fragment of a second, her gaze shifted to Genesis' shoulder. She was watching his shoulder so intently both the brunette and the silverette turned to look what was so interesting, while Genesis looked seriously uncomfortable.

Then she smiled. A wicked, evil smile that spoke of ill intentions.

"_Dreams of the morrow hath the shattered soul, Pride is lost, Wings stripped away, the end is nigh." _Strangely enough, she quoted back at him. Sephiroth and Angeal had no idea what she was talking about, but blood fled from the red Commander's face.

"Now, now, don't look at me like that Genesis, you know it's gonna happen. You already got back the tests from Hollander, right?" She said casually, like what she was saying was an ordinary topic people discussed over coffee and not a highly classified information that no one below the rank of a ShinRa General should know.

Well, that explained what Tseng meant by saying she knew a lot of sensitive information. But it didn't explain how…?

"A leak of foreign genetic material that destroys the delicate balance of various genetic factors within a SOLIDER. Degradation." Genesis gasped a little, but she paid him no mind, choosing to continue her explanation. "Once the balance is destroyed, your own body will turn against you. You start ageing prematurely, your skin turns grey and starts to crack, your hair turns white and- oh, I almost forgot." She laughed, as if she told a great joke.

"That wound on your left shoulder that you got in a fight with Sephiroth that never healed? Let's just say you take the 'wings of the morrow' to a whole new level."

It took a moment to sink in. Angeal figured it out first. "He's going to sprout a wing?!"

"You're lying! Hollander will find a cure, he is already working on it!" Genesis slammed his fists on the table, nearly breaking it in half. The girl didn't seem perturbed.

"Hollander is a fool who doesn't even know what he himself is doing. It's a genetic error that happened when you were created. And I don't mean born, I mean _created."_ The Trinity looked at her strangely. She just sighed.

"Guess you don't know yet. Never mind, it's a long story. Hollander knows though, probably more than me, so feel free to strangle the answers out of him. But if you want I can tell you more, what he doesn't even know yet." She pulled her feet off the table, which was apparently all the damn thing needed to fall apart. The girl just crossed her legs in her chair, quickly composing herself.

Genesis let out a growl a lion would be envious of and stalked out of the room. Angeal made to go after him, but she called after him.

"Angeal!" He stopped in his tracks and turned around, looking ready to snap her in half. "The Degradation does not affect all SOLDIERS. It is unique to SOLDIER type G." This time, Angeal was the one whose blood drained from his face. She tilted her face and gave an angelic smile.

"Tell me, how is your little Puppy student doing?" The doors snapped shut and Angeal stiffly returned into the room and crossed his arms, the usually even tempered man looking like he would like nothing more than break the neck of the bitch that dared to upset Genesis so much and threaten his student, and at the moment it didn't matter that she was just a child.

"What about Zack?" He asked briskly, and Sephiroth could swear he never heard his friend sound like that.

"Oh, nothing really, it's just that his heart will be broken to bits when he will be forced to kill the person dearest to him." She even clasped her hands over her heart in a mock show of sadness. That gesture irritated and angered Angeal beyond belief. She jumped almost a foot into the air when Angeal smashed the remains of the table with both of his fists.

"What are you talking about?" He came dangerously close to her personal space and almost growled.

Only then did she look properly frightened, but only for a few seconds. She carefully schooled her expression and crossed her arms.

"Genesis is not the only one who will suffer from degradation. It may be partially because he is technically a failed experiment, but you will suffer from the same ailment. Thinking you are a monster, and monsters have no honor, you will do the only thing you can to preserve that honor: by passing it on to your student. And the only way to do so is to kill you. Tsk." She turned her head away. "Zack won't do anything to harm his dear mentor, so you will force him, challenge him to battle. He will be forced to kill you, and his heart will shatter."

She turned abruptly to glare at him, and he slowly inched away. "It is not degradation that will turn you into a monster, but your own actions. By forcing the person who loves you like a father to kill you, you will think not for his honor or his feelings, or his dreams, or his wishes, but of your own twisted sense of honor!" She was close to yelling. She stood up to her not so impressive height, standing on her toes to look Angeal in the eye.

"You once said our ability to care for somebody other than ourselves was what separated us from monsters. And in that one fell swoop, that one action, you will forever seal your fate as a monster, by your own principles and laws! You are the biggest hypocrite and the most despicable man that has ever walked the face of this Planet! Zack would have every right to hate you!" By the time she stopped her tirade, she was red faced and panting, but still glaring at Angeal. The commander himself was pale and wide eyed, looking like he was on the verge of crumbling. After a few moments he simply turned around and walked out of the room with his head bowed, never once looking at his silver haired friend who could only stand there and watch, not knowing what to do.

When the doors clicked shut, in that same instant Masamune was drawn and only an inch away from the girl's exposed throat. But the girl only looked at the blade dispassionately and tilted her head in a gesture that looked like it was meant to give him more access to her throat.

"You do not fear death?" He asked, Masamune digging into her flesh slightly, but still not enough to break the skin.

She shrugged slightly, but carefully enough not to get her throat cut immediately. "Not particularly, no."

"Hmm." Was all the General said before he sheathed Masamune and turned to walk away.

"Don't you want to know something too?" She asked behind him, and just like Angeal he couldn't help but look back at her. She had settled into her chair again, crossed her legs and twirled a strand of hair between her fingers, eventually putting it in her mouth to chew on. That little gesture was really confusing Sephiroth. Was she trying to eat her own hair? It would explain why the ends were turning a dark yellow…

"Don't know what to ask? Okay, I'll start. A million do- err, Gil question: What is the name of your mother? I'm kinda' curious to see if you will answer this correctly." Sephiroth raised an eyebrow at her. Why was she asking that? He narrowed his eyes. Was she trying to trick him like she did Genesis and Angeal? Still, she was waiting for his answer.

"My mother's name was Jenova." Almost immediately she jumped out of the chair and pointed at him.

"Beep! Wrong answer, though I was kind of expecting it. That bastard Hojo did a damn good job of erasing her from your life." She gripped her chin and looked downwards, thinking. Sephiroth on the other hand, was confused.

"What are you talking about?" She looked at him surprised. Then she scowled.

"Damn, I keep forgetting you three know nothing. Well, long story short, Jenova is not, and I repeat, is NOT your mother. She is an alien creature whose cells were injected into you. You birth and real mother's name was Lucrecia Crescent." Her eyes turned dark. "Hojo ripped the baby out of her womb and left her for dead, never once letting her hold you. The bastard, out of all people who work for this corrupted corporation he's probably the worst kind of monster there is."

Sephiroth's head was swirling. His mother was not Jenova? It was what Hojo told him all his life, but the scientist had lied about important things before, who was to say he didn't lie about it? Or was the girl the one lying?

"You don't believe me, do you?" When he turned to look at her, she looked… sad. But this time the sadness seemed genuine. "If you don't believe me, take a sample of your blood and cross reference it with the database of ShinRa's employees, including the ones that are no longer alive and don't work for the company anymore. ShinRa keeps their files even after they don't need them anymore, so it is likely that her file is still in the archives. Then you'll see the proof that I'm not lying." She said calmly, evenly.

She believed what she said. She was telling the truth.

"Why would you tell us all this?" Sephiroth finally asked his question. A distant look at the far wall was his answer. He was about to leave before her words reached him.

"Because now you have the chance to stop the future from happening." She said softly. But when he turned around again, she turned her back to him, her arms around herself. He understood he wouldn't get anymore answers out of her so he left, nodding to the female Turk at the door before going down the corridor.

He had to pay a visit to the Science Department.

* * *

Nerina leaned against the wall of the ruined room, sighing. This dream was draining more energy out of her than restoring it. Dammit, she just wished to wake up already, so she could go back to sleep for a proper rest. But luck wasn't on her side, as the Turks flooded the room soon after the General left. She sighed again and rubbed her forehead. Were you supposed to feel tired while sleeping?

The red headed Turk, Reno, strode in with a frown on his face directly towards her. She looked up into his eyes but the second their blue gazes connected she felt a sharp pain in her cheek, and a dull one in her side. It took her a moment to realize what happened: Reno had slapped her so hard she fell on the floor. She turned to him, glaring.

"That hurt asshole!"

"Shut up bitch! Just be happy I didn't break your fucking mouth, and the idea is looking mighty tempting right now. So shut up and move!" He yelled at her and grabbed her arm to roughly yank her to her feet.

"Ow, you're hurting me!" She yelled at him and tried to pry his much stronger hand off with hers. He just smirked at her.

"Am I? Good. If you know how to dish out punishment, you should know how to take it." He growled at her and half dragged her out and flung her into the arms of a man, probably infantry judging from his uniform. She struggled, but he kept tight hold on her arms, preventing her escape. Reno strode to stand in front of her and crossed his arms, sneering.

"If you think this is bad, just you wait until you get in Professor Hojo's clutches. Then you'll see just what pain means." Then he simply turned to walk away. The soldiers simply dragged her in the opposite direction, presumably to the Science Department. Damn, she would be in a whole world of pain-

_Wait. Pain? If this was a dream, then shouldn't I be unable to feel pain?_

The soldier twisted her arm in a silent but painful command to hurry. Then it hit her like a ton of bricks.

_Oh my God, this is real!_

* * *

_One week later…_

The week that followed Sphiroth's secret test of his genetic heritage was nothing short of a disaster. Genesis had snapped completely, so much in fact that Sephiroth and Angeal had to forcefully restrain him from deserting the company and fleeing to Wutai. The wound on his shoulder was discovered and everything the girl said had proven to be true.

Genesis was dying.

Of course, he wasn't going to take the news of his impending demise as calmly as the girl that informed him of it did. It had gotten to the point they had to sedate him and not let him out of their sight. It had gotten harder when the symptoms the girl they still didn't know the name of listed. Genesis' bright red hair was gaining more and more silver strands with every day, and his skin was starting to lose color. His wound was hurting more and more with each day and they feared that he would really sprout a wing soon.

It didn't help that what she had said to Angeal had really shook him. He was brooding most of the time, and rarely spoke a word anymore. He put an indefinite stop to training his Second class student, and the annoying puppy had been turning up on the doorstep of Sephiroth's office more and more frequently, looking for his 'master'. Sephiroth had to stop himself from simply kicking the annoying SOLIDER out of his office, and one day barked at him to bother his other friends and stop annoying him. The look of a kicked puppy Zack got on his face was almost enough to make him feel guilty.

Almost.

Now, all three of them had used their vacation time that they had loads of to rest and figure the things out for themselves. As Sephiroth's apartment was the biggest, Angeal and Genesis had temporarily moved in with him, so they could look after the redhead easily. Genesis had complained as much as he could doped on sedatives, but he spent most of his time sleeping.

They were on Sephiroth's couch, Angeal sitting with Genesis' sleeping head on his lap, stroking the red hair that had numerous patches of grey in it, and Sephiroth in the armchair opposite of them when his PHS finally rang. Sephiroth had dived for it so fast Angeal gave him a funny look. He ignored his friend and checked if it was indeed the message he was waiting for.

_Blood analysis: complete_

The brief message had him putting on his regular uniform and bolting out of the apartment with only a brief goodbye to Angeal. He nearly sprinted to his destination, and Goddess only knew how much he wanted to, but he held himself back. It wouldn't do for somebody to see their General so rattled. It would cause a whole new bunch of problems and it was something he really didn't need right then. Still, he came to the lab to quickly collect the data on his PHS from the lab's computer, and went out as quickly as possible.

He came into his office and quickly turned on his computer. While he wasn't willing to admit it out loud, he was really nervous to see if what the girl said was really true. Once all the data was transferred, he quickly cross referenced it with all of ShinRa staff, looking for compatibilities.

The search came up with none.

Sephiroth slumped in his chair with a sigh. So she really was lying. There was nobody related to him in the existing database so-

_"… cross reference it with the database of ShinRa's employees, including the ones that are no longer alive and don't work for the company anymore."_

Sephiroth quickly set on the search of the files for all employees, including the ones that deserted, fired, quit and/or were dead. He was only mildly surprised when it asked for a security password, but he was really surprised at the level of clearance needed. He narrowed his eyes, but still entered the password. After it beeped affirmative Sephiroth cross referenced his file with those in the database.

He was also really surprised when the search came up with two compatible files.

Sephiroth clicked them open and just as the girl had said, one was of Lucrecia Crescent, and the other was… of Vincent Valentine? Sephiroth mulled over the name for a bit. Why did it seem familiar? Ah right, it was the name of the Turk that went missing over twenty years ago that Veld sometimes talked about. Wait, that was his father?

Sephiroth pulled up his picture and he nearly gaped when he saw the man. Planet damn it, they could have been brothers! All Sephiroth had to do to look completely like him was to cut his hair, dye it black and put on a pair of red lenses.

Sephiroth couldn't help but wonder if the girl knew about that too.

Copying both of their files onto his computer, Sephiroth printed them on paper and proceeded to erase any traces of him ever snooping around the restricted database and shut everything down. Grabbing the hard copies of the files of his parents he went back to his apartment. He had to talk to his friends about this.

* * *

She wasn't sure how much time had passed. Hours, days, weeks, it didn't matter. She had no way of telling. All she could do was curl into a tighter ball and ignore that she couldn't see anything because of the bandages covering her eyes. She didn't know what the Professor had done to her, he never told her. He would only laugh that chilling laugh and cut into her flesh with knives and syringes until she passed out from pain.

Pain was the only constant, and the only way of telling if she was still alive. She didn't care much about her mortality status anymore, she just wished she was back home. She didn't even care if her sister braided her hair into million little braids or her mom was always tired and disinterested when she came home, she just wished she was back with her family. She would even ring up her dad and pester him into spending some time with her, even if he was on a phone most of the time. She just wished to feel some warmth and gentle hands, anything from the unending cold and pain. And to think she used to like winter. Now she just wished for some sunlight on her paper white skin.

She was sure her skin was white, even if she couldn't see it. She actually wasn't even sure if she still had eyes in her skull anymore.

When she heard the sound of her cage opening she looked up on reflex, a habit she hadn't been blind for long enough to break. The footsteps seemed familiar, and the rhytam she came to recognize as Hojo's sent her in a quiet panic attack. But she was nothing if not stubborn, and she would be damned if she gave the sadist the pleasure of seeing her scared! She pressed her lips in a thin line and furrowed her brows in a gesture that would have been a glare had she been able to see. All she heard was a quiet chuckle.

"Still persisting I see. No matter, the stubbornness usually passes after some time. Come along now, we have more tests to run." Came Hojo's amused voice. With a swish of a lab coat, the sound of footsteps started going away. She hurried after him, knowing that she better not get lost or she would be in some serious trouble, trouble she really didn't need. As she followed the scientist's footsteps, her own bare feet barely making a sound on the tiled floor, she counted the steps, memorizing where she heard a door click and where her hands or feet bumped into a piece of machinery. The only plan that she had left while blind was getting herself familiar with the lab's layout and trying to figure out any escape routes.

Eventually, the footsteps stopped so she stopped as well. As soon as she figured out that yelling, fighting and trying to bolt at any chance was a useless endeavor, she stopped trying to escape and instead planned to give Hojo a false sense of security. Hojo probably thought it was because he rendered her blind that she became so cooperative, and while it did hinder her chances of escape, she was in no way about to roll on her back and die. Not now that she knew she had to actually stay alive to get home.

The scientist grabbed her arm and yanked her in what seemed like a random direction to her until her hands hit glass. She swallowed. She knew damn well what those were for, and not only from her experiences in playing the game. It wasn't the first time Hojo had locked her in a Mako tank, and she feared it wouldn't be the last.

"What are you waiting for you brat? Get in!" The professor's annoying voice ordered her, and in that moment her patience snapped. She crossed her arms and turned in the direction where his voice had come from.

"I would if I could see where. It's your fault, you know, so don't yell at me for your own lack of foresight." She barked back at him. Oh, she just knew she was going to regret that later, but right now, all she could bring herself to regret was that she couldn't see Hojo's face, because by the way the scientist was sputtering, she just knew it would have been picture worthy.

And sure enough, as soon as a small smile stretched over her mouth she felt a stinging slap across her face, though not strong enough to do much more than turn her head away. Thankfully, Hojo wasn't nearly as strong as Reno because had she fallen on the floor he probably would have kicked her in the ribs too. She had seen him do it before on weaker specimens, back when she was still able to see.

Still, Hojo was apparently in a hurry because she heard the opening of the glass doors and then a hand pushing her in. She stumbled and fell on its bottom. Before she could even curse properly the doors closed again and the green liquid began to quickly fill the tank. She stood up as fast as she could, but Mako was already reaching her knees. She hissed as the liquid fire touched her skin, leaving a burning and then stinging feeling wherever it touched her skin.

Damnit, it seemed she irritated him enough to use pure Mako this time. In usual Mako dips SOLDIERs had to go through they were sedated and the Mako used was diluted with some other organic fluid and water, so it wouldn't be such an agonizing process. And while pure Mako did the job quicker it usually left the individuals with a mild case of Mako poisoning. Those could be prevented with a shot of something she didn't know the formula of before the dip, but as she didn't feel any needles in her skin before being forced into a tank, she just hoped she would recover quickly.

As the Mako covered her face, she forced herself to breathe in the liquid without choking, and then screamed in agony, though not a sound came out, the Mako muffling any screams she made.

* * *

Both Angeal and a surprisingly awake Genesis were staring at Sephiroth as if he had sprouted wings. The fact that there was a possibility of that had Sephiroth nervously turning around to check. Thank Minerva, no wings were growing out of his back.

"You're telling me you're the son of 'The greatest Turk who ever lived', to quote Veld?" Genesis finally snapped out of it. Sephiroth just handed them the papers he printed of their files. Angeal took Lucrecia's file and Genesis nearly ripped Vincent's file out of his hand.

Angeal looked at Sephiroth strangely. "And she told you this?"

"Yes. She even told me in which database to look, though she never mentioned the Turk."

"Do you think she knew?" Genesis piped in.

"It is most likely." Sephiroth frowned. "But I still don't understand how she knew. How she knew any of this." He gestured with his hand at all three of them. Angeal and Genesis frowned, having no decent answer to offer.

"Do you maybe think she somehow knows the future?" Angeal finally asked.

"Don't be ridiculo-"

"You may be right." Sephiroth cut Genesis off. "When I asked her why she was telling us all of this she said 'Because now you have the chance to stop the future from happening.'" Both of his friends were looking at him incredulously again.

"Alright, assuming she does know the future, and I'll admit I'm leaning more and more towards the affirmative, we still don't know _how. _For all we know she could have gotten her hands on the data she shouldn't have and is now just sprouting it around." Genesis guessed. But Angeal quickly shot his theory down.

"I don't think so. We told you what she said to me. No amount of existing data could…" Angeal trailed off, looking away.

"You saw how she was yelling at me. Like she hated me for it, even though I haven't done anything. She is so firmly convinced that what she knows is the truth that she acts as if it happened already." Angeal got an almost pained look on his face. Genesis noticed and gripped his shoulder.

"_My friend, do you fly away now? To a world that abhors you and I? _Just because she says it's going to happen doesn't mean it really will. You heard Seph, she said it herself that she told us all of this so we could change the future she supposedly saw." He smiled at his childhood friend, but the smile abruptly fell from his face and he looked at Angeal in horror.

"Gen, what is it?" Angeal asked in alarm and out of corner of his eye he noticed Sephiroth going away to get the sedative. But Genesis was deathly calm and with one shaking hand he reached for Angeal's hair. Angeal nearly stopped him, but with a surprising speed Genesis snatched a hair off Angeal's head and held it up for inspection. And then Angeal realized what Genesis was worried about.

The hair was white.

Degradation.

"She was right." Genesis let out a whisper. Angeal simply took his hand and squeezed it in his.

"At least you will not go alone." Angeal tried in a feeble attempt at humor. It only served to make Genesis break down. Cursing himself for making Genesis cry, Angeal embraced his friend and let him cry on his shoulder. It was how Sephiroth found them when he returned with the sedative. Seeing once proud and strong Genesis crying like a child on Angeal's shoulder broke something in him.

His friends were dying.

"I'm going to find her." Sephiroth announced and turned to walk out the door.

"Sephiroth wait! You don't even know her name!" Angeal called after him but he didn't dare get up in fear of rattling Genesis.

"Then I'll just have to make Tseng tell me." Sephiroth simply growled out and nearly slammed the door behind him.

Angeal sighed and lowered Genesis on the couch in a more comfortable position. It still amazed him how his once flamboyant and nearly hyper friend could now fall asleep at the drop of a hat. It would have been cute if the reason behind it wasn't so deadly. Angeal sighed again and went into the kitchen to make some tea. He had a feeling their soon to be guest would need it.

* * *

Tseng's Turk training was the only reason he didn't jump a foot in the air when the General slammed the doors of his office open and strode over to his desk, nearly incinerating everything within the three foot radius. Tseng didn't know what got Sephiroth so riled up, and he was slightly afraid of finding out.

"Where is she?" Both hands on the desk, the General was leaning forward so much Tseng felt his personal space being invaded.

"Who are you talking about?" Tseng was pretty sure he knew who the General was talking about, but better be certain.

"The girl you sent us to interrogate a week ago! And if you tell me you killed her, you will be very sorry!"

"Why do you want to know?" Tseng immediately wished he hadn't asked. The way Sephiroth's eyes flared Mako green promised pain and suffering if he didn't answer right away.

"The Science Department has her." As soon the words were out of his mouth, the Demon of Wutai slammed the doors closed again and was out of his office without so much as a by your leave.

Tseng sighed. He just knew that girl would bring chaos to ShinRa. But now, all he could hope for was that the chaos she brought would go away along with her.

* * *

With long strides bordering on jogging Sephiroth soon found himself in the room labeled as 'Experiment Holding Cells'. Monsters ranging from mutated to humanoid were locked in small cells some of them could barely fit in. Sephiroth paid them no mind, instead going to the far end of the room where he remembered experiments that still looked human were held. It was technically illegal to experiment on humans, but anyone that was a threat to ShinRa that the Turks still could have use of was a fair game. Their age was irrelevant.

And sure enough, two cells were occupied. In one of them was a man who, Sephiroth remembered, was suspected for helping AVALANCHE. He looked at Sephiroth fearfully, probably thinking he was there to take him for further questioning. Sephiroth ignored him, instead focusing on the body of a girl sprawled in the cell next to the wall.

She looked like whoever put her there simply threw her unconscious body in the cell and left it that way. There was a puddle of green around her and her clothes, the same ones he saw her in a week ago, were stained green. Her long hair was tangled and also had a green hue to it, covering her face completely.

It was truly a pitiful sight.

The lock broke with one powerful squeeze and Sephiroth threw the doors open with a loud bang. The girl didn't move. He crouched down next to her and shook her shoulder. Nothing. Worried she had died he quickly checked her pulse. Weak, but steady. Resigning to the fact that he would probably have to carry her out he rolled her over but he paused when he saw her face.

Her eyes were covered with a thick bandage little over an inch wide, covering her eyes from her eyebrows to below the bridge of her nose. Sephiroth frowned. What had the bastard scientist done this time? He just hoped that the lack of eyesight wouldn't impair her ability to 'see the future', as Genesis put it. Still, he was curious what had been done to her, but the bandage was really tight and it disappeared somewhere in her hair so he didn't know how to remove it without hurting her.

"She never takes the bandage off." Came a voice from the other cell. Sephiroth turned to look at the other prisoner. "She already wore it when I came here and she never took it off. Not even during the… _tests._" He spat out the word like it was venom. Having lived through those 'tests' himself Sephiroth could understand his hate at least.

"Is she still capable of sight?" At Sephiroth's question, the prisoner snorted.

"Don't know, and neither does she. _He _never tells us what he does with us, and as long as we're still breathing the Turks don't care either." He looked at her with sadness. "I have daughter around her age. No child deserves to suffer these horrors."

Sephiroth didn't really understand as he didn't have children but nodded and hefted the limp girl over his shoulder. Silent as a wraith, he walked out of the room with cells, never once looking back. As quickly and as silently as he could he walked back to his apartment, trying not to jostle the girl on his shoulder too much. Judging from green puddle he found her in, she was probably subjected to some kind of Mako exposure and some SOLDIERs were often sick after their shots. The last thing he needed was for her to vomit all over him.

"Ugh, koj'vrag…?" He heard the girl mumble something and felt her muscles tense. She was still for a moment and then she straightened so abruptly he nearly dropped her.

"Who the Hell are you?! Where the fuck are you taking me?" Sephiroth nearly answered her angry questions but then realized he could use it to his advantage. He doubted she would be as cooperative if she knew it was Sephiroth who was carrying her. So he opted to stay silent and continue walking, hoping she wouldn't figure out it was him.

"Huh, if I didn't know better I'd misjudge your silence for the Turks taking me for further interrogation. Good thing I know better, _General._" She spat out, but didn't struggle. Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. How did she know? Did she predict him coming to bust her out?

"And from the way your steps got a tad bit slower I'd say you're wondering how I figured it out. It was easy, because last time I checked Turks don't wear leather. The only ones who do are you and Genesis, and I reckon Genesis is too sick by now to carry me, if he didn't go AWOL already." She propped her elbows on his back for support as she explained.

Sephiroth hated to admit it, but he was a tad bit impressed. Most people in her position would have been too frightened to think rationally, much less figure out who was carrying them.

"You are remarkably perceptive." Sephiroth allowed.

"I didn't use to be. But when all you can rely on is you sense of sound and touch you learn to use them." She said scathingly.

Although, her behavior confused Sephiroth. Most victims that left Hojo's lab after a week were quiet, withdrawn, and wouldn't look anyone in the eye. While it might have had something to do with her being unable to see, Sephiroth was pretty sure she wasn't supposed to be this… Not-traumatized wasn't really the word but it was the best Sephiroth could think of that described her.

"Your footsteps got slower again. What's bothering you?" Damn, she noticed. Sephiroth didn't notice any change in his walking pattern but then again, he wasn't paying any attention to it while she was completely focusing on him, probably looking for a way to get out of his hold and run away. So instead of answering he tightened his hold on her waist slightly, deciding he better be prepared.

"You tightened your hold, so I'm guessing you're thinking about how I could escape. Tch, you're an idiot. I'm blind, and you're super strong. Even if I managed to slip away, I probably wouldn't get far before you caught me." She jabbed him in the back with her elbow for good measure.

Sephiroth smirked, that tactic wouldn't work on him. Purposely making him underestimate her was a plan doomed to fail ever since she showed how sharp her senses had gotten. Still, it was a good tactic, and it might have even worked on people with a lower IQ.

"Sooo, did you do that test I told you to?" She asked casually, blatantly changing the subject.

"Yes." Sephiroth answered curtly.

"Well, I'm guessing you believe me now because you wouldn't have gotten me out of that cell otherwise. Want to know more about your heritage?"

"What else do you know?" It wasn't really the reason he had freed her but there was no harm in prying a bit deeper, was there?

"Answer me this first, because I'm not hundred percent sure about the answer myself. When you looked in the database, whose file did it pop up as your father?"

Sephiroth frowned slightly. So she didn't know…?

"C'mon, tell me! Was it Vincent? Please tell me it was, Hojo's a monstrous freak!" He could feel her shudder slightly. He couldn't help but agree with the last statement.

"It was Vincent Valentine, the former Turk." He answered. So she knew, but wasn't sure? Just how accurate were her predictions? Or she wasn't sure because it was in the past?

"Yes! I knew it!" The girl exclaimed in triumph. Another thing about her to add to his list of things he didn't understand. Then he realized something.

"I never got your name."

"Really? Huh, guess Tseng forgot to tell you. Name's Nerina. Call me Nera."

"Nerina is fine." 'Nera' seemed a little too familiar to him. But she only snorted. He could have sworn he heard her mutter something under her breath.

_"Now I know how Zack feels."_

The rest of the walk was spent in silence. Sephiroth decided his questions could wait.

* * *

AN: Reviews will be loved, constructive criticism read, re-read, and fawned over, and flames used to make marshmallows. If you have any questions, feel free to ask, I'll be happy to answer them.

If this ever gets updated, I have to warn you straight away it will be much slower than Timeless.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: Not really happy with this chapter, but if dad finds out I've been using his laptop without premission to write it he would wring my neck. I might come back and rewrite it when I have the time.**

* * *

Angeal had been Sephiroth's friend since they were children forced to fight wars of the adults. Therefore he knew his friends had some… odd quirks, social skills of a hermit and the meaning of 'common sense' often escaped him. It's wasn't his fault as much as it was Hojo's. But Angeal liked to think that due to his and Genesis' influence their friend was getting better at it, and actually learning how to interact with normal people.

But those thoughts were thrown out of the window when he saw Sephiroth striding into the apartment with the prophet girl slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"What the Hell are you doing? Put her down right now!" Angeal quickly took the girl from his friend and helped her stand on her own. Then he turned to glare at Sephiroth who had the gall to look confused.

"Seph, I never told you this because I didn't think it would be necessary, but you CAN'T just throw a girl over your shoulder against her will and whisk her away, especially not one so young!" Still looking at Sephiroth he pushed the girl lightly on the back toward the couch.

"But when I found her in the holding cells in the labs she was unconscious. I figured it was the easiest way to get her here, since she is blind." Sephiroth still sounded confused but Angeal nearly sputtered when he heard him.

"Labs? Unconscious!? BLIND?!" Angeal whirled around to look at the girl and sure enough, she was sitting on the couch with her back ramrod straight and her hands on her knees, her eyes covered. Because of the gauze she shouldn't have been able to see, but to Angeal it looked like she was looking straight through the bandage at Genesis, who was still sleeping soundly on the couch.

It unnerved Angeal slightly, but none the less he sighed before walking over to the girl. She tensed when he came close and 'looked' away. Angeal crouched to her eye level and furiously shoved away any feelings of contempt he might have still felt about her. If they wanted her to help them the last thing they needed was to frighten her.

"Hello there. Can you tell us your name?" He asked gently. Although it still freaked him out how she turned to 'look' at him and tilted her head to the side a little.

"You aren't mad at me? You have every right to be." She asked instead. Angeal let out a quiet laugh.

"I was at first, I admit, but your… lecture made me think very thoroughly about your words." He moved to sit on the couch next to her. "And then I realized I probably would have done just that if what you said would happen is true. So now we need your help to stop it."

Her eyebrows nearly disappeared beneath her bandage in a frown and she 'looked' down. "You want me to cure you." It wasn't a question.

"If you know how, yes." It was Sephiroth who spoke. Angeal turned to him and mouthed 'what are you doing?' so she wouldn't hear him. Instead Sephiroth came to stand right in front of her, clearly trying to be intimidating. And succeeding. The girl dug her nails into her tights and looked to the side. She didn't say anything.

"Well?" Sephiroth prompted a bit more harshly this time.

Angeal saw her gulp and hunch her shoulders a bit. "Could you… step back… please…?" She asked as if it hurt her to speak.

"Not until you tell us everything you know about the Degradation and how to cure it." Sephiroth was in a full General mode now and was nearly growling at her. By now she was trembling and her breathing had highly accelerated, almost to the point of hyperventilating. Angeal was about to reprimand his friend but Sephiroth simply held up a hand to silence him. The girl in question was now biting her lip.

"S-step… back…" She whispered, and when Sephiroth stayed where he was she stood up and jumped over Angeal so suddenly they barely had time to blink. She was making a beeline for the entrance door and by the time Angeal gathered his wits Sephiroth was already bolting after her.

She nearly grabbed the door knob when Sephiroth grabbed her. He wrapped his arms around her middle, immobilizing her arms at the same time and lifted her off the floor. She was kicking and thrashing in his grip like a wild animal, screaming and screeching.

"Let me go, let me go, I don't want to go there, no more, stop it, stop it!" Her voice was cracking as she screamed, though she didn't seem any closer to calming down. Sephiroth had a pretty good idea what she was yelling about, but he didn't loosen his hold. It seemed even she didn't escape the labs unscattered. She was just good at acting. Very good at it.

So much she fooled them all.

Angeal could only helplessly watch as the little prophet girl trashed in his friend's grip. He was at a complete loss at what to do! Sure, he'd read about how people who had gone through something traumatizing often had violent reactions to anything that reminded them of it, but he never had to deal with it personally. On the field, such traumas were ignored until the SOLDIER got home and it was left for the psychiatrists to deal with. They never had to deal with a child at all, much less one that was so… breakable.

Sephiroth eventually had enough so he tightened his grip on the girl to the point he was suffocating her. "Listen, I am not taking you to the lab, and if you promise not to run away I'm going to let you down. Do you understand me?"

Nerina finally calmed down and let out a shaky 'yes'. Sephiroth let her stand, and grabbed her shoulder when she stumbled. Once he was sure she was stable he steered her toward the couch where a stunned Angeal was still sitting.

"Well, that was the weirdest alarm clock you ever brought home." Both men turned to look at their red headed comrade. Genesis was woken by all the noise and they doubted he was in a good mood.

"Genesis, good to see you awake." Angeal greeted and went to sit next to Genesis. Genesis ignored him, sat up and leaned forward so his elbows were resting on his knees.

"So, this is our little seer. What's with the bandage?"

"Hojo." She replied.

"Ah, no wonder. Any other parts missing?"

"Not that I know of."

"Good enough. So enough chit chat, I'm sure Seph told you why you are here." He leaned back and crossed his arms. Angeal sighed. Genesis hated beating around the bush.

"You want me to cure you." She said matter-of-factly.

"Yes."

"Then I am sorry to disappoint you." She frowned slightly. "I've told you nearly everything I know. If there _is_ a cure for Degradation, I don't know it."

There was dead silence in the room. She didn't need to see to know that three sets of eyes were boring their gazes into her. She scuffed her toes together in nervousness, unnerved with her inability to see their faces to gauge their reactions. Though she had a pretty good idea what they were when she heard a crash and yelling.

"Let me go Angeal, so I can snap her neck!" Even she flinched when she heard Genesis yelling disturbingly close to her.

"Seph get the sedative! Genesis calm down, you can't just kill her!" Angeal was yelling at him, and by the sounds of a struggle, likely restraining him from ripping her in two.

Deciding to follow the advice of her common sense, she jumped over the couch she was on and huddled in a ball behind it. She cursed her blindness, she had no chance of running away! Even if she bolted she was more likely to run into a wall than out of the apartment.

"Get that damn needle away from me, I'm gonna- OW! Kill… That… Little…" There was a sound of something slumping, and heavy panting from the other side of the couch.

"Great, what do we do now?" It was Angeal's voice.

"Wait until the drug wears off, then try to talk to him, preferably with Nerina out of sight."

"Nerina?"

"That's her name."

"Oh. Speaking of which, where is she?"

Taking it as her cue to reveal her position, Nerina stood up from behind the couch to and 'looked' in what was hopefully their direction.

"I'm here." She tried to stop her shakes. Gripping the couch's back rest helped but it still didn't stop completely. Dammit, what was wrong with her! She wasn't afraid when Sephiroth held the tip of Masamune at her throat and she's trembling like a little girl from Genesis' _failed_ attempt to attack her?! Granted, she thought he wasn't real at the time but still! What would her father say when he saw her? Gritting her teeth she forced herself to calm down and stop ruining the couch.

"You are filthy and you stink of Mako. You need a shower." She nearly jumped a foot in the air when she heard Sephiroth's voice behind her. She whirled around to 'look' at the General and nodded quickly. Fighting the urge to flinch when a strong hand gripped her forearm, she let herself be led in the direction of what was probably the bathroom.

Left turn, walk straight, right turn, walk some more, turn right and stop. There was a flip of a switch and the hand left her arm.

"You can take a shower here. Leave your clothes next to the door, I'll bring you some spare towels and something to wear." And with that, Sephiroth left and she was on her own.

"Great." She sighed and turned to lock the door. Just as she was about to start 'feeling' her way around, she remembered that she still hadn't checked if she was truly blind. A few steps and she bumped into something that she felt was the sink. And above the sink was usually the mirror.

She must have been standing there like an idiot for a few minutes, because her legs were getting tired. She berated herself for hesitating like that, but she was frightened. Hojo had done terrible things, to Sephiroth, to Zack, to Cloud, even to Jenova! And those Makonoids in the reactor were once human too. What had he done to her?

_One way to find out._

With shaking hands she flipped her hair out of the way and started felling for the end of the bandage. Once found, she slowly unwound the bandage, relishing in the feel of pressure leaving her skull. She didn't immediately open her eyes when the bandage fell, but instead turned towards the mirror and suddenly opened them.

Then she screamed.

* * *

"What are we going to do now?" Angeal asked, slumping onto the couch, careful not to hit his sick friend. Sephiroth took his cue and sat on his armchair, though with far more grace than his burly commander.

"She was our only hope, and she tells us we're just going to die!" Angeal continued. "She says Hollander won't be able to help, and when I confronted him I have a feeling he knows it too."

He sighed. "What are we going to do Sephiroth?"

"I do not know." Sephiroth admitted. "But she can't know the whole future. It lasts for too long for her to know everything."

"What are you getting at?"

"There has to be some way she's getting that information, piece by piece as time progresses. And she said your student killed you because you forced him to." He ignored how Angeal flinched. "She didn't say degradation killed you. And she never said how Genesis died. We don't know how long you have to live. There still might be a chance."

"That's looking a bit far for a silver lining." Angeal grimaced.

"Let me finish. And she said 'as far as I know'. That means cure might exist, but it's not in the immediate enough future for her to see."

"Well, that's… actually possible. But we still can't know for certain until we ask-"

He was cut off by a shriek. Coming from the bathroom Nerina was in.

* * *

Tseng ignored the stench of the Midgar Slums as he single mindedly walked to his destination. The only place in the entire great city of Midgar where anything other than humans and monsters lived.

The Church.

Remembering his manners, he knocked on the front door, hoping Aerith was in and not outside selling flowers. Thankfully, a faint 'come in' chimed from inside of the decaying building, so Tseng pushed open the door, and closed it behind himself.

There she was, beautiful as ever, tending to her little flower bed with a smile on her face and humming quietly. Tseng took a moment to observe her, and a smile found its way to his face unbidden. He quickly remembered his mission though, and studied the flower girl a bit more intently.

They were nothing alike. Where Aerith was warm and smiling, Nerina was cold and frowning. She never minced her words and she didn't care how much they could hurt somebody. Aerith on the other hand had tact a Turk would be envious of, and if she accidentally hurt somebody she was genuinely sorry. But when she got angry, you better be somewhere far away, but she was impulsive. When Nerina got angry, she didn't immediately show it, rather weighted her chances, assessed the target, and struck the heart.

If Nerina was a Cetra, she certainly didn't act like it. Or was Aerith just unique?

Said flower girl eventually noticed him standing there like a statue and her smile turned worried for a second. She quickly covered it though, stood up and dusted her skirt before coming up to him.

"Hello Tseng. What brings you here?" She greeted with a pleasant smile. Tseng didn't bother with the pleasantries, she knew he only came when he needed to ask her something.

"Mission, and I'm in a bit of a hurry. And I know this might come as a surprise, but are you sure you are the last Ancient?"

She looked taken aback. "Well, yes, at least, that's what Planet told me. Why do you ask?"

"We have captured… an individual with no known history with… a disturbing amount and precision of foresight. We have a reason to suspect they are one of the Ancients, at least partly."

Aerith looked a bit faint. Afraid she would fall, Tseng took her hand and guided her to one of the pews, letting her slump into them.

"A-are you certain she's a Cetra?" Tseng frowned. He never mentioned the gender of the 'individual'.

"We do not know. So I have come to ask you. Were Ancients capable of knowing the future?"

"No!" Aerith nearly yelled at him. "We only know what the Planet tells us, and even it can't know the future! Oh Gaia, she must be…" Aerith looked close to hyperventilating.

"Aerith!" Tseng shook her shoulders gently until she looked at him. "What are you talking about? Do you know what she is?"

Aerith gulped. "A-about a week ago, the Planet started… well, you could say fretting. It has sensed the Calamity, but she is still sleeping! Until last week, apparently. It sensed a presence in the ShinRa building simply appear, out of thin air you could say! Shortly afterwards, even _I _started hearing the Calamity. I don't know what she is, but this presence is very similar! It's not from the Planet! It's complete void!"

Tseng couldn't believe what he was hearing. He knew about the JENOVA project, of course, and in one of his famous rants Professor Hojo had mentioned that she was actually an alien that crashed on the Planet thousands of years ago. Was Nerina actually like Jenova?

And Sephiroth had gone to find her.

"Stay here Aerith, I will double the Turks on watch. I have to do something about this 'presence'." When Aerith nodded he let go of her and nearly ran back to ShinRa headquarters.

He just hoped he wasn't too late.

* * *

Her hands shook. Her lip was trembling. Her knees were weak. And frankly, she felt like she might throw up. It just couldn't be! And yet… The creature in the mirror raised a hand to its face and touched its cheek bone. The exact same movement she did. She dropped her hand, and so did the mirror image. It still looked partially like her. Same brown hair, same round cheeks, same skin, same-

No, her eyes weren't the same. Those were _not_ her eyes. Those were the eyes of a monster she had only seen on the TV screen and even then they have her nightmares. She whimpered. Her hands came to clutch the sides of her head, griping her hair like they were going to rip it out. And all the while, the figure in the mirror did the same, looking at her with those scary eyes.

Those red, eerily glowing eyes, with a reptile pupil in them.

The eyes of Jenova. _On her face!_

She finally couldn't hold it anymore. She shut her eyes tight, sinking down the wall, knees to her chest and her arms on them. She hid her face in her arms and did something she honestly couldn't remember having done since she was little more than a baby.

She cried.

She cried so hard, she didn't even notice Sephiroth and Angeal as they burst through the door, swords drawn and ready to kill. And when Angeal dropped his sword and put a comforting hand on her shoulder she didn't move, the only sounds that escaped from her lips were quiet sobs. Tears rolled down her cheeks, onto her arms and disappeared somewhere in her shirt.

Sephiroth stared at Nerina as she cried, not even aware that they were in the room. As Angeal tried in vain to comfort her, he looked around, trying to find what made the composed girl simply break down like that. His eyes eventually fell on the long bandage on the floor. When he picked it up, he was hit by a distinct smell of Mako. The same bandage she was wearing around her eyes, now on the floor. Right below the mirror.

What had she seen?

"Angeal." His friend turned to look at him and he held the piece of cloth up. Angeal paled and looked at the crying girl. She hid her eyes in her arms, not looking at them. Finally Sephiroth's patience snapped.

He knelt in front of her and harshly gripped her chin to yank it up and see her eyes. But Nerina shut her eyes tight and covered her eyes with her hands.

"No don't! Please don't. You can't see, please, don't…" She pleaded, looking ready to cry again. Sephiroth paused. So it _was _her eyes that she was so upset over. But as much as he was curious, he let go of her chin and let her slump against the wall again.

They were silent for a while, neither one wanting to talk. Finally Angeal stood up.

"The towels are on the washing machine, and I can raid Genesis' closet for something you could wear. We'll leave the bandage here. Call if you need anything." He said quickly and before Sephiroth could utter a word of protest he grabbed him and hauled him out. Once the door was closed and they were out of earshot Angeal let go of him.

"Before you start, yes, it was necessary. Look, whatever she saw that was done to her, it obviously scared her. She wasn't bleeding, and she wasn't physically hurt. My best guess is that she freaked out when she saw her eyes were glowing."

"Glowing? Oh…"

"Yes, she was drenched in Mako, and in that amount it tends to produce SOLDIER like effects on the person. If she wasn't given the stabilizer then it should go away in a few days and if she was… Well, then she will have to deal with it. If it hasn't killed her yet, chances are it won't…" Angeal sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"When did our lives become so complicated?"

"Around the time she appeared here." Sephiroth answered, not recognizing a rhetorical question when he heard one. So Angeal just sighed again, and left for the living room to see if Genesis had woken up. Sephiroth cast one last look towards the bathroom, and then followed Angeal.

Nerina on the other hand, stayed sitting in the corner for a while longer before finally getting up and shedding her clothes. Still keeping her eyes shut tight, she found her way towards the shower and stepped in.

She went through the movements robotically, lather, rinse and repeat for the hair and again until she couldn't smell any of the vile chemical on her. Once she was done, she stepped out and snagged the towel from the washing machine and wrapped it around herself. She nearly panicked when she didn't immediately find her bandage, but she found it in the sink.

Before she put it on though, she filled the sink with water and soap, trying to wash out as much Mako from it as she could. Once she at least washed the stench from it, she flipped her hair over her face and wrapped it around her head, making it so tight it nearly hurt. She tucked the edges into the bandage and flipped her damp hair back. There, like she never took it off. She hoped at least. It was hard to judge the end result when she couldn't actually _see_ it.

She found nothing near the towels, so she went out of the bathroom and to the living room. Now, repeat the steps in reverse. The doorway, turn left, walk nine Sephiroth-steps, turn left, again walk straight, turn right, and-

"You!" She nearly had a heart attack when she heard Genesis' voice and was fully prepared to run in the opposite direction when she collided with something and fell on her butt.

"Oh sorry, didn't look where I was going. Anyway, you can put these on until we find you something more fitting." Came Angeal's voice seconds before something was thrust into her hands. She fingered the fabric before nodding and went to pull over her head was she figured was a shirt.

"Hey, not in the hallway!" She ignored Genesis' amused voice and once the shirt was in place she pulled the towel from underneath it and handed it to Angeal. The shirt was more of a dress that reached almost to her knees. Was this really Genesis' shirt? Last she saw, he wasn't that tall.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a phone ring. Angeal put some other piece of clothing into her hands and left her presence, probably to pick up. She didn't really mean to, but she overheard the conversation.

"Commander Hewly speaking."

_"Hewly, we have a mission. I know it's your vacation, but we have a Marlboro terrorizing the lower levels. Pick up Genesis and get down here!" _Came Lazard's voice from the other line.

"Uh, Genesis isn't here. I'll bring Sephiroth." Angeal quickly shut the PHS and nodded to Sephiroth. The two firsts were armed within seconds, and running out the door. Before the door closed Angeal turned to the two residents.

"You two behave. And this apartment better be the same way we left it when we get back." With those words, he shut the doors.

Genesis snorted and went back to sleep. Nerina just stood there for a few moments, trying to decide what to do. In the end she pulled on the boxers Angeal had given her and tied the tiny rope that served as the waistband. All in all, the outfit wasn't that different from the clothes she came here in. Wait a minute, how long was she captive? It was next to impossible to tell the time in Hojo's lab, and since she was blind she couldn't look for a callendar.

_But you are not blind._

She ignored the little voice in the back of her head. There was no way that bandage was coming off, much less anywhere in the vicinity of Sephiroth. He may believe Lucrecia was his real mother but Hojo had been telling him his whole life that his mother was Jenova. Not to mention she had some mental hold on Sephiroth, similar to the one Sephiroth had on Cloud when he made him hand over the black Materia. But it was due to the Jenova cells, so-

Nerina gasped. No way, he _couldn't have! _But this was Hojo she was talking about, he probably noticed something odd about her, if he didn't figure out she was from another planet entirely. It could have meant he categorized her same as he did Jenova! And if he thought she was an alien, though in a sense he was right, the first thing he would have done…

…was to implant Jenova cells in her.

Nerina shuddered. Dammit, this was bad! She already had Jenova's eyes, along with Jenova cells, she could pretty accurately guess what the scientist was hoping to achieve. By telling Sephiroth who his real mother was, she basically foiled all of Hojo's plans to allow Jenova to posses him. The body of an Ancient Jenova had possessed was dead and decaying, so he had to find her another body to inhabit, possibly one with as much potential as Sephiroth.

And who better than the 'alien' girl he thought could see the future?

Though she hadn't told Hojo anything, she was aware the professor knew of her 'predictions' she told to Tseng and the three Firsts. He often asked her when he was doing some experiment how it would turn out, goading her to tell him if she really could see the future. She kept her mouth shut that time, now that she knew it wasn't a dream, but the damage had apparently been done already.

Her mother always _did _tell her playing so much video games would be bad for her. Granted, she said it so she could get her to study more, but Nerina was pretty sure she had no idea how right she was.

This was bad, if that was really what Hojo was attempting then she might as well become the next Jenova. Thankfully, she wasn't hearing any voices so maybe-

"Hello?! Anybody in there?" Genesis snapped his fingers right in front of her nose and she _finally _'looked' in his direction.

"So you are home. I've been calling you for five minutes already and you were just standing there like an idiot." Genesis barked and crossed his arms. He had a pretty good idea what was wrong with her, but he wanted to hear it out of her mouth.

"I.. Um, well, I think I shouldn't tell you…" She twirled her fingers and bit her lip, obviously not sure what to say without giving herself away.

"Oh please!" Genesis sighed dramatically. "I think almost the whole of ShinRa knows you can see the future already." He didn't miss how she flinched and 'looked' down.

"Now, the only mystery is _how. _Though you don't have to tell me, I'm pretty sure I figured it out by myself."

"Y-you did?!" She asked in fright. Genesis smirked.

"Truthfully, it was obvious." Her shoulders sagged. But then her entire body tensed, and Genesis recognized it as 'fight or flight' instinct.

"So, you're going to give me back to Hojo?" Her voice was strained. Genesis sighed again.

"Yee of little faith. Now why would I do that?"

She 'looked' at him strangely. Genesis wondered if she was still able to see despite the bandage due to her… gift.

"If you figured it out- How do you think I 'know the future'?" She used air quotes. Genesis had to raise an eyebrow at that.

"You gasped and then blanked out in the middle of the hallway, and I couldn't reach you for almost five minutes. Missy, I can recognize visions when I see them. Guess that answers my question of 'how you can see the future'."

Nerina honestly didn't know whether to sag with relief or disappointment. So instead she bit her lip and frowned. Genesis had come to the wrong conclusion, but it was one that could either save her or cause her even more grief in the long run. Still, for now she opted to play along. She didn't plan to stay long enough to see her 'predictions' play out.

"Please, could you promise me you won't tell anyone?" True or not, it would cause a lot of problems if the word got out that she was a seer. She could only imagine what the Turks would do to her. What would Hojo do? Then again he probably knew already, though she didn't need to add icing on the cake and seal her fate by giving him the proof.

"I promise I won't tell anyone other than my closest companions, under one condition." Genesis promised. Though she feared what his 'condition' would be.

"And that is?"

"Be on the lookout for anything that might seem as a cure. If you do, tell me immediately." This time she did sag a bit with relief. She feared Genesis would ask her to tell him what was the answer to purpose in life, universe and everything.

And she had a feeling '42' wouldn't be a sufficient answer.

"Alright, I can do that." She gave him a hand to shake, and he took it. She was caught by surprise how weak his grip was. If he had been healthy he would have probably crushed her hand. But this way it seemed like she was the one crushing him.

He didn't have much time.

"Now, I will go sleep for a bit, you do whatever you want, just don't break anything." With those words he was gone, and the creak of couch springs indicated he had gone back to sleep. She walked in the direction of that sound until she hit the back rest of the couch. And indeed, except for the quiet ticking of the clock somewhere Genesis' even breathing was the only sound in the apartment.

Nerina sighed. She might as well investigate.

* * *

Tseng cursed the Planet, Minerva, and every God there was to curse at for his bad luck. Because really, what were the chances that a Marlboro escaped from the lab just as he was returning? Oh right, there was also professor Hojo. Tseng even started muttering curses he heard Nerina use under his breath. He had no idea what they meant or if he was even saying them correctly, but they sounded harsh and that was all he cared about.

Though at least Sephiroth and Angeal were there. He was hoping to catch them and as Sephiroth what had he done with the alien girl. Because if Aerith was right, then they were looking at a disaster of epic proportions. It was one thing being Gaian and having an alien cells injected into your body, like it was done to Sephiroth, it was an entirely different matter being alien and having both Mako and Jenova's cells injected into you. And he suspected it was exactly what was done to Nerina.

"Yo boss! You think you could help?" Reno called. He and Rude were in the process of evacuating the lower floors while Angeal and Sephiroth fought. It would have been done already if the hallways weren't so tight. Their attacks and range of motion were limited.

Tseng sighed. His answers would have to wait. Besides, how long it could take to defeat a Marlboro?

* * *

It took surprisingly long to walk around the huge apartment and memorize her steps more or less thoroughly. She had nearly gotten lost a few times, and by the time she was finished she was frustrated and a bit cranky. It didn't help that the tiny voice in the back of her head kept goading her to remove the blasted bandage so she could actually _see _where she was going!

She stubbornly ignored it though, she was already used to being blind. She had a feeling that it would take far longer for her to get used to not having her own eyes. It also made her wonder if Hojo had actually transplanted Jenova's eyes into her skull or simply deformed her own. Nerina sighed. It made her head hurt and sick to her stomach. Of all the things he could have done, he crossed her with the only character in the entire Final Fantasy universe that frightened the Bejesus out of her! Did that madman have a sixth sense that told him what made other people tick?

She covered her face with her hands. Okay, she had to calm down. No point in getting angry. It would only wake up Genesis, and then make _him_ angry and an angry Genesis was _not _good to be around. She had to find something to do that calmed her down. She usually just picked some book from her mother's bookshelf that she hadn't memorized yet and read it, though that wouldn't work now for obvious reasons.

What else? Hmm, when her sister was upset she went and made her upset until she either snapped and kicked her out of her room or broke down and let her braid her hair. She didn't really understand her sister's almost unhealthy fascination with her hair, but messing with it usually calmed her down. But that wouldn't work either because there was only Genesis with her and she couldn't braid her own hair if her life depended on it. Especially blind.

Her mother's methods of calming down would probably scare the crap out of the three Firsts so that was a no-go. She had never seen her father upset, but she sometimes heard him from his office screaming at his phone. Usually by the time he was done yelling he would calm down. She doubted it would work.

Who else? Her Granma was never upset, but when she was bored she usually did something around the kitchen. Her stomach decided to remind her that it was still there by growling. She hadn't eaten anything solid for almost a week, and the last time Hojo gave her a transfusion was… pretty long time ago, she guessed.

Well, kitchen it is. Besides, as long as she was careful around the strove all she needed was her sense of touch and smell. And Sephiroth and Angeal would probably be hungry when they came back so she might as well make a dinner.

She sent a quiet thanks to her Granma for teaching her how to cook, and wished her peace in the afterlife.

* * *

He was having a nice dream. He and Angeal were children again, chasing each other around the Dumbapple orchards. Then he remembered it was actually a memory of the times that had long passed. Still, it made him smile. It was one nice memory to dream of, and he wanted it to last.

He was woken up a very annoying ring of Angeal's egg timer.

*Oh, the Carbonara is done!* He heard Nerina's voice and a very soft pitter-patter of her bare feet, though he had no bloody idea what she just said. Still, the smell of something _delicious _wafted through the living room. All desire to keep dreaming disappeared and he was about to sit up when he realized he could barely move. With a quiet grunt, Genesis put all his strength into his muscles and managed to stand up. But it seemed that she heard him, because she turned around and looked at him in worry.

"Oh sorry, did I wake you? Well now that you're awake, could you put the dishes on the table? The dinner is nearly done." As soon as he heard her words Genesis was insulted. How dare a little girl command a First Class SOLDIER? It was unheard of! But before he could start his tirade, the front door banged open, with two very familiar voices coming from them.

"I'm just saying, you didn't have to _growl _at him. It's normal that he would want to know where she is, she is still technically under the jurisdiction of- What's that smell?" Angeal asked as he entered the living room. Still insulted that he was being commanded around, Genesis simply pointed in the direction of the kitchen, where Nerina was.

"Oh, welcome back. I just made dinner, I hope you don't mind." Nerina came from the kitchen wearing Angeal's apron. Angeal wasn't really surprised she was wearing the bandage around her eyes again but surely she didn't _cook _while wearing it?

"Genesis, didn't I ask you to set the table? Honestly!" She sounded exasperated, but went to fetch the dishes herself. Angeal was about to tell her where everything was but she walked straight to the correct cabinet and took out four plates. But before she could put them on the table, Angeal, ever the gentleman, took them from her.

"I'll set the table, don't worry. We appreciate you cooked dinner while we were away."

"No problem, I needed something to do and Genesis was sleeping so I couldn't do anything loud. And since I reckon you'd be hungry after the mission I made dinner. I hope you like Carbonara." She said with a small smile and went back in the kitchen. Despite himself, Angeal stared at her. She was blind for Minerva's sake, how could she move so… confidently? She wasn't bumping into anything, stumbling or hesitating, just sliding her hand over the countertop as a guide. The only time she was hesitant was around the oven, though Angeal could understand why.

Sephiroth was observing her too, surprised how quickly she learned the outlay of the kitchen. Then again, they were gone for over three hours, and it was already dark outside. She had plenty of time and with how observant she proved to be, it was not really surprising.

"Why are you just standing there? Come sit." Sephiroth was cut out of his musings when he saw her 'looking' at him expectantly. He frowned. How did she know he was there? He half expected her to answer without him asking, like she did before, but she just pulled on her oven mittens and took out the dish from the oven. She turned around and closed it with her leg.

Sephiroth realized he wouldn't get his question answered if he didn't actually ask it first.

"How did you know I was standing here?" She put the dish down on the table Angeal had set and turned in his direction.

"I dunno. I guessed?" Her brows furrowed in confusion. Sephiroth mimicked her. She guessed? Strangely the answer didn't satisfy him, but he decided he would ask later when everyone sat around the table and began eating.

The three SOLDIERs weren't used to having a family dinner. The only one who could cook was Angeal, Sephiroth didn't have any idea what half the words in the cook book were and whenever Genesis tried to cook something, no matter how simple, he would inevitably end up burning it. Yes, even water. It was a proven fact. And one time Zack decided to brave the kitchen it ended up covered in a strange goo that looked suspiciously alive. The firsts would usually end up getting takeout and eating it whenever they got hungry. And with how many missions they had to go to they rarely found themselves together for long enough to have a get together dinner.

Still, they found the whole affair to be pleasant. Genesis was livelier than he had been the entire week, shooting insults as well as quotes back and forth with Nerina, Angeal giving his input every now and then, and even Sephiroth had a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

It was… nice.

When the dinner was done Angeal made Genesis help him wash the dishes, insisting that Nerina had done enough. Then the problems of sleeping arose. Sephiroth's apartment only had two guest rooms, both which were occupied. Nerina surprisingly said she could sleep on the couch, claiming that if Genesis could spend the entire day lazing on it without getting cramps then she could sleep through the night. Of course, it caused a whole new battle of insults between her and Genesis, but Angeal could only bring himself to be glad that Genesis wasn't picking fights with Sephiroth anymore.

Though it took longer than Angeal would have liked, their verbal spar had been ended and both children were shooed to their beds. As she lay on the couch Nerina's thoughts returned to her earlier theory.

So there was a pretty good possibility that Hojo had injected her with Jenova cells, perhaps in such a number that her own eyes turned like Jenova's. Another theory was that he transplanted the eyes from the Jenova's existing body into her eye sockets. The entire idea made her sick. In both versions of the equation, she was screwed! She just didn't understand why? What was Hojo really trying to achieve? The original plan from the game was to make a setup so Jenova could posses Sephiroth, so he could declare himself God. Transferring Jenova to her was never a part of the plan.

Then again, she ruined those plans simply by appearing here.

Besides, she was useless. Sephiroth was nearly a demi-god all by himself, gaining the knowledge of Jenova and the Lifestream made it so only Cloud could defeat him, who was in his own rights too powerful for his own good. She on the other hand, wasn't strong or fast, or even enhanced and she was only thirteen. To top it off, she wasn't even Gaian. She was as opposite of Sephiroth as one could get. If Hojo indeed wanted Jenova to possess her, she didn't see the point.

Too tired to think about it any longer, she just turned around and let sleep claim her.

_Floating. She was floating. Strange, wasn't she just sleeping? She opened her eyes and was met with a glass wall. What was it doing there? Where was she? She looked around. She was surrounded by glass. Glass and wires and… was that hair? Indeed, silver hair, like floating silk strands. Where was she? Behind a wall of glass, floating. Why was she here? The wires and tubes went behind her, into her back, and out again. She tried to lift her hands, only to realize she had none. How? She still had them when she went to sleep. Wait, there was banging on the glass. She looked up. Someone was on the other side? Who was that? She tried to get closer, but the wire chains wouldn't let her. The person on the other side was saying something. What were they saying? Saying something to her? She couldn't hear them. She tried to tell them, but no sound escaped her throat. Why didn't it? The person on the other side stepped closer. Their image cleared, and what she saw…_

…_was herself._

_With a monster's eyes._

The three First class SOLDIERS were awoken by a scream that ripped through the night.

"This is getting ridiculous." Genesis groaned in discomfort as he got up from his bed and went into the living room. He was a bit confused when he saw Angeal and Sephiroth standing in the middle of the room gaping like fish.

"What, the kid having a nightmare again?" Genesis groaned and nearly covered his ears when there was another scream.

"That is no nightmare." Sephiroth said. Genesis raised an eyebrow at how shocked Sephiroth sounded and stepped closer. And gaped.

He was pretty sure it was Nerina on the couch, but… Her face was twisted in agony and she looked like she was choking. Out of her open mouth was pouring black blood and on her skin were patches of blue scales. Her hands that were gripping the couch left rips where her nails tore. Her hair seemed to be floating around her, and the usually golden edges were turning silvery white.

"Goddess, is she possessed?!" Genesis yelled over her screams. And then just as suddenly as it started she stopped, and turned to the side and started coughing. It was so violent, they thought she would cough out her lungs but instead black and green gunk poured out of her throat and fell on the floor. She heaved a few times and then sat up. The patches of blue disappeared from her skin and her hair stopped floating, though it still retained its silvery ends.

The SOLDIER Trinity could just stand there and watch in silent anticipation. Genesis feared she would suddenly turn to them and transform into some monster but she just sat there, with her back to them.

"Nerina, are you… alright?" Sephiroth was the first to regain his vocal cords. All three men tensed when she let out a weak laugh.

"Considering I was nearly possessed by an alien, I'd say no." Her voice was corase, but she could still speak clearly.

"So you _were_ possessed!?" Genesis nearly squeaked. When she nodded he felt a bit faint.

"By whom?" Sephiroth, ever the General, pressed on.

"By a monster whose target was never me." She turned to Sephiroth. "It was you."

"Sephiroth?" Angeal finally found his voice as well. "Why?"

"I see I have a whole lot of explaining to do. Lemme just wash this off. And I could use a new shirt." She stood up and wobbled a bit, but stayed on her feet. As she went in the direction of the bathroom and out of sight, the three men turned to each other.

"What is she talking about? And what the Hell is going on?" Genesis asked, distraught. Angeal squeezed his shoulder in a comforting gesture.

"I don't know, but she said she would explain." He turned to Sephiroth. "Could you go find something she could wear? Genesis and I will try to clean this up a bit."

Sephiroth nodded and went to his wardrobe. Angeal took the sheets off the couch and used them to wipe off the green and black gunk off the floor. When he got closer, he noticed it smelled like blood, Mako and something familiar he couldn't pinpoint. When he was done he went to go the washroom but Genesis stopped him.

"I think it's best we burned this." Genesis looked at him pointedly and took out his fire Materia. Angeal had to agree with him, the sheets looked unsalvageable. A little casting later and all that was left of the cloth was a pile of ash.

Soon Sephiroth returned to the living room with Nerina in tow, now wearing a clean T-shirt. She took a seat on the couch and the three men followed her, awaiting the explanation she promised to give.

"I don't really know where to start." She admitted.

"Then start by telling us what you really are." Sephiroth said, a tad harshly. They didn't miss when Nerina flinched slightly.

"I am human. I figured out what Hojo has done and why." She said somberly, frowning.

"I guess it has something to do with what happened right now?" Angeal narrowed his eyes.

"Actually, yeah." She sighed. "But first you ought to know a bit of history. You have all heard of Jenova, right? Sephiroth's fake mother?" They nodded.

"This all starts at the beginning of the SOLDIER project. Professor Gast excavated a body of what he believed to be an ancient. When the cells of that body were injected into a human it acted as a stabilizer for the body to accept Mako in unnatural amounts."

"Yes, yes, everyone knows that! Can you start explaining already?" Genesis snapped at her. She 'glared' at him but continued.

"But the body of the Ancient wasn't an Ancient. Technically, it once was, but the alien being that crashed on Gaia 2000 years ago had taken the Ancient's body. It was actually similar to what happened tonight."

"That alien is Jenova." Sephiroth connected the dots.

"Yes. Ancients were able to seal it away, and because of that she bears a grudge against this whole Planet. And she wants to destroy it." They could tell she was leaving something out. And they could tell she wouldn't say what.

"But the Ancient's body is decaying. Rotting. And in order to survive, Jenova needs a living body as a host. Her target was actually Sephiroth." Nerina continued.

"Why would she want to take Sephiroth's body?" Genesis asked, suspicious.

"Oh I don't know, maybe because he is the strongest man to have ever walked the Planet, and she wants to destroy said Planet?" Nerina asked sarcastically.

"Alright then, why did she try to take yours then, if it was Sephiroth she was going for?" It never ceased to amaze Angeal how Genesis managed to throw an innutendo in weirdest sentences. But, thank Minerva, it didn't seem Nerina realized what he had just said.

"Because if you want to take someone's body you have to either destroy the host's mind or meld with it. And in both options you have to fight with them mentally. Jenova has- I mean, will try to do it in the future. Mind meld with Sephiroth, I mean. What you saw right now was Jenova trying to destroy my mind."

"Why would she try to destroy you?" Angeal asked, hard pressed to keep his calm.

"Because I'm useless to her. The only reason she even bothered to take my body is because hers won't last much longer, and with the level of control Sephiroth has over himself, he would have to be in a severe mental and emotional turmoil for her to try to take over. She thought me an easy target I guess, and with the amount of Jenova cells that bastard injected into me, I am currently the only other option." Nerina answered, not a little anger and bitterness in her voice.

"You said she will try to meld with Sephiroth. How can you be sure?" Angeal asked, glancing at his General's stony expression.

"Because I've seen her try. And unfortunately, suceed." Nerina started twisting a lock of brown-silver hair around her finger, a clear sign she was starting to get nervous.

"Are you saying you can really see the future?" Sephiroth finally piped in. Nerina nodded.

"How?" Before Nerina could answer Genesis beat her to the punch.

"She has visions." He said almost smugly, always eager to be in the spotlight. "When you two were gone, she simply blanked out in the middle of the living room, and I couldn't reach her for almost five minutes. Heh, when told her I figured it out she thought I would give her a one way ticket to the Science Department."

_Because I thought you've come to the _**right** _conclusion. _Nerina remarked in her head. It irritated her to no end how all-knowing Genesis was acting over a fact that wasn't even true. But saying something would blow her cover, and with the guess Genesis had come up with, she could actually tell them what would happen without looking like a lunatic or making them suspect she was the next Calamity. If they knew the 'future' she preached was all learned from a videogame, _then _they would give her a one way ticket to the Science Department.

"Have you seen Jenova planning this from your visions?" Angeal's voice brought her out of her reverie.

"That's just the thing. I didn't. All I've seen are Hojo's plans to create a setup and Jenova melding with Sephiroth. These are all new developments to me."

"Then how did you know what Jenova was trying to do?" Genesis raised an eyebrow. They almost seemed to be taking turns in questioning her.

"When you try to meld, or even destroy someone's mind, you have to tap into it. Unfortunately for Jenova, it's a two way street. I think she was too busy trying to overcome me that she didn't bother to look into the memories of my… visions, but I was able to get a glimpse of hers. Her current plans are to take my body and wait for an opportunity to take Sephiroth's. Then…"

"Then what?"

"'Sail the cosmos with this Planet as her vessel.' That's what she said." Nerina said. She conveniently left out what happened directly after Jenova possessed Sephiroth. They didn't need to know the horrors that might not even happen.

Angeal slumped back onto the sofa and groaned. "This is just getting peachier."

"We should all get some rest. We'll discuss our further plans in the morning. Hopefully she won't attempt anything again tonight." Sephiroth stood up and went to his bedroom. Angeal and Genesis followed his example after bidding good night to Nerina. And Nerina simply grabbed a few pillows from the sofa and went back to sleep on the couch.

She didn't get much sleep that night.

* * *

In almost ungodly hours of the morning the ShinRa office drones were tumbling out of the way to one pissed off Zack Fair. What would make the usually cheerful SOLDIER so glum you ask? Well, for starters, he hadn't seen his mentor in over a week, and he heard last night from Kunsel that he had been sick and hiding in Sephiroth's apartment. Zack, the usually cheerful and happy Zack had been pissed beyond belief. It was perfectly justified in his opinion. How dare Angeal simply abandon him without even so much as a half-assed explanation and expect him to be okay with it?! With a grumble Zack came to Sephiroth's door and pulled out a copy of the key. He reminded himself to take Cissnei out for a date or something as a thank-you. Having Turk friends had some really nice perks.

Quietly and stealthily, he unlocked the door and came in, hoping to catch his mentor by surprise what he saw instead made him freeze in his tracks.

From the living room he could see a girl no more than fourteen, wearing only male boxers with Sephiroth's shirt (it was definitely Sephiroth's, he remembered Genesis giving it to him for his birthday) setting the table and happily singing.

"Daddy came in  
and he caught me red handed  
fucking that boy next door.

Picture this,  
we were both butt naked,  
banging on the bathroom floor.

How could I forget that Mom  
had given him the extra key?  
All the while he was standing there,  
he never took his eyes off me."

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Zack thought the words were describing the situation entirely too well.

* * *

AN: That thing Nerina is singing is a parody on Shaggy's 'It wasn't me' that I made specifically to annoy my dad.

Reviews will be loved, constructive criticism read, re-read and fawned over, and questions happily answered. Even flames are welcome, my marshmallows are a bit too chewy.


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